Boys Basketball: Wissahickon uses big fourth to beat Upper Dublin

UPPER DUBLIN — Wissahickon knew coming into its Suburban 1 American Division match up with Upper Dublin that the Cardinals’ home crowd was going to be a factor. It even helped them through three quarters. However, as Rasheed Wallace once said, “Ball Don’t Lie.”

The Trojans can, in fact, ball.

Wissahickon used a huge 25-point fourth quarter to make up for the first three, downing rival Upper Dublin 50-41. Led by Chase Wilson’s 10 point final period, the 7-1 Trojans turned a possible loss into a big win, hitting big shots and attacking the lane.

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“For me, coming to Upper Dublin is always one of the toughest places to play,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. They knew Upper Dublin was going to come out with energy. This game was how a Wissahickon-Upper Dublin game should be. We feel fortunate to come out with a win.”

To the Cardinals credit, they held the intensity for much longer than most anticipated. The huge crowd powered Upper Dublin to a great opening period and third quarter. The Cardinals were leading at the end of each of the first three quarters.

“It’s just frustrating,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said. “I thought we played well defensively for the most part. Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going to the basket in the second half and couldn’t hit foul shots. The kids in that locker room work really hard, we are just coming up short and it’s very frustrating.”

However, with 5:47 left in the fourth, Wilson drove hard to the hoop and got fouled as he went up. The ball went in, the basket counted and the Trojans had their first lead since the first quarter at 33-32. Wissahickon went on to push the lead to 10-plus and cruise to a comfortable win. It was a heartbreaker for the Cardinals, who would have wanted nothing more than to hurt the Trojans’ conference title hopes.

“We knew that we had to get a lot more fire after halftime,” Chase Wilson said. “I think we just came out slow and expected to get out to a big start like last time. But, no one hung their head or gave up. Some of our threes weren’t falling, so we knew we had to get to the basket.”

Upper Dublin’s Andrew Carber and Curt Goff had solid games, notching 12 and 10 points respectively, but it wasn’t enough to hold down the Trojans. Wissahickon, normally a three-point shooting team through and through, had its fair share of makes and misses but the ones they hit kept them alive throughout the game. Because of the three-ball, the Trojans never found themselves out of striking distance, a dangerous place to be for any opponent.

Where this game differed was in Wissahickon’s approach in the fourth quarter. Where they usually just chuck up threes, the Trojans saw that Upper Dublin was in foul trouble and attacked the basket to get to the free throw line. Wissahickon hit 14 of 16 foul shots in the quarter, a stat that no doubt helped the comeback.

Wilson, one of the league’s best guards, dropped 21 in the game. Gordon Bentley was also in double-digits in scoring with 10. The duo’s performance both on the offensive end and defensive end spark the Trojan comeback, but it was a team effort in the end and coach Wilson is happy to escape with the win.

“We stuck together,” Kyle Wilson said. “I love this group’s unity, I love the way they fight. When everyone in the gym thinks things are dark and dim, they still feel like a win is not out of reach. They continue to fight and I couldn’t be more impressed with how they continue to battle and win some of these games.”